Many militant smokers claim their rights as a smoker in the name of America. But what is being done about the rights of the non-smoker? Doesn’t anyone ever think about those people?

Ten years ago secondhand smoke was seen as a minor irritant that could make your job uncomfortable or ruin your dinner at a fancy restaurant. But recent studies now suggest that for some people secondhand smoke can be deadly. Secondhand smoke contains the same poisons in the smoke that smokers inhale—such chemicals as formaldehyde, arsenic, cyanide, radioactive compounds, and benzene and carbon monoxide.

In fact, the smoke that the smoker doesn’t inhale may contain higher amounts of these poisons. This is because the inhaled smoke is burned at a higher temperature that destroys some of the toxins, and it’s filtered.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that passive smoking—being in the presence of a spouse or coworker who smokes—causes about 3,000 lung cancer deaths each year. Passive smoking accounts for as many as perhaps 30,000 to 50,000 deaths annually from heart disease in nonsmokers.

Passive smoking also causes a host of nonfatal health problems, such as burning eyes, hoarseness, throat irritation, sneezing, headache and nausea. Those with asthma, hay fever, sinusitis, emphysema and other health conditions are especially sensitive to the effects of cigarette smoke. Asthma and bronchitis are aggravated in people who are exposed to cigarette smoke, especially in children under 18 months of age. Children of smokers also have an increased chance of developing serious lung problems such as asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia.

We personally know of people who have never smoked a cigarette in their lives, but are diagnosed with emphysema, lung cancer, or cardiovascular disease. What was a common factor among them? They all live with a heavy smoker. That alone seems a lot more than coincidental!